


The Mighty Lions

by stabbyAoba



Series: Slapshots and Spikes [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: "we don't bully sylvain", Alternate Universe - Hockey, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Sports, M/M, Other, aro/ace!Ingrid, asexual!Ashe, nonbinary!Byleth, nonbinary!Yuri, they're all some sort of queer lesbihonest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stabbyAoba/pseuds/stabbyAoba
Summary: Dimitri and his friends have been a tight knit team since they were children, but this year they’ve had to scrounge up figure skaters and old rivals to just barely fill out their ranks. The only thing they hope can salvage their ragtag excuse for a hockey team is their new coach--former Olympic star Byleth Eisner.But the hockey life is filled with epic highs and lows, and Byleth finds that the lines between coach and therapist and team and family are very fine ones indeed.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro, Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Slapshots and Spikes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821181
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	1. Lions' First Practice

“It’s been a while since we had the ice to ourselves.” Ingrid mused as she pulled into the empty parking lot--well, empty except for one run down truck in the closest spot to the rink. 

Dimitri smiled beside her. “My younger self would be furious if he heard me say it, but I have missed our early morning practices.” 

The pair let themselves out of Ingrid’s truck, stretching their still waking limbs and breathing in the crisp air. The stars were still bright overhead, the sky a cold dark blue waiting for the sunrise. Ingrid leapt into the back of her truck, tossing both their bags down to Dimitri before jumping back down with their sticks. With their equipment comfortably over their shoulders Dimitri handed Ingrid the bag of clementines they’d put in the back seat, balancing the box of bagels himself as they started towards the rink. 

“What do you think they’ll be like?” Ingrid asked, “It doesn’t sound like they’ve ever coached before.” 

Dimitri shrugged. “As long as they don't think we’re going for the Stanley Cup, I’m sure they’ll be fine.” 

“Why not? I think we could do it.” Ingrid smirked. 

“Yeah? Better tell Sylvain so he can get his act together then.” Dimitri joked before frowning. “But in all seriousness, Ingrid, we don’t know what this team will look like, and if it's not a championship team we can still make this season work.” 

Ingrid conceded a nod before pushing the rink doors open with her shoulder, letting Dimitri pass ahead of her. Their entrance echoed throughout the high empty dome above the ice, the lights already on. They made their way past the fresh ice to the zamboni room, stepping around frozen puddles to where their new coach waited. 

“Come in.” An even voice came from behind a door left ajar. Dimitri and Ingrid set their gear and food near the entrance and let themselves into the small office. Their coach sat nestled into a sagging couch, their knees tucked up to prop up a notebook they were scribbling in. 

“Dimitri and Ingrid I take it?” They asked, tapping their pencil against their jaw. 

“That is correct.” Dimitri answered, holding himself a little too rigid. “And we’re glad to have you this season, it’s an honor--”

“We can get to know eachother better when I address the whole team.” The coach cut him off, and Ingrid tried not to flinch at the panic that flashed across his face. 

“Of course.” Ingrid jumped in. “But you did want to speak with us captains before practice?” 

“Oh, right” The coach trailed off, glancing quickly back down at their notepad before continuing. “How well do you both know your players for this year?” 

“Well,” Dimitri started. “We’ve played with both Felix and Sylvain for most of our lives, they’re both strong skaters with a lot of experience. Looking at our roster however we do have several new players, two I believe are coming over from figure skating but we don’t know about the others.” 

“We are getting a couple more from another school district that couldn’t maintain their own team.” Ingrid added, “They were fairly decent if I recall.” 

The coach nodded, jotting something down on their notepad. 

“All right, I’ll keep that in mind. Now go get changed.” 

Dimitri and Ingrid didn’t hesitate to slide right out of the cramped office and bolt towards the locker room. 

“What was the point of that?” Ingrid whispered, though they were well beyond earshot. 

“No idea, but let’s just get on the ice as soon as we can.” 

Voices were already audible from inside the locker room, and Dimitri pushed it open to find three players just settling in on the benches. Dedue was already working at the straps on his goalie pads, while Felix and Sylvain pestered one another on the far side of the room. Ingrid went to intercept the boys’ argument while Dimitri settled down beside their goalie. 

“How was the new coach?” Dedue asked as he struggled to fasten the lowest straps. 

“Brief,” Dimitri said, kneeling down to help despite Dedue’s protests. “I’m not sure why they called us in early if they didn’t want to speak much.” 

“Both of you sit down.” Ingrid’s voice rose over the pair, and Dimitri looked up to see Sylvain and Felix immediately slump down on the benches. 

“What is it now?” Dimitri called over. 

“This idiot nearly skipped our first practice.” Felix pointed angrily at the other boy. 

“I did not!” Sylvain argued, “I just said--” 

He was interrupted by the doors pushing open, and two girls walking in awkwardly shouldering their bags. The two paused in the doorway, glancing between the boys and Ingrid. 

“Is this the right locker room?” The taller of the two asked, her voice high and motherly. 

“Blue Lions?” Ingrid perked up, launching herself across the locker room to greet the new team members. “Hi, I’m Ingrid, your assistant captain.” 

“I’m Annette!” The smaller of the girls introduced herself. “And this is my friend Mercie. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Dimitri stood up and joined Ingrid to introduce himself to the newcomers. “And I’m Dimitri, your captain. You both used to be on the figure skating team, correct?” 

The girls nodded, setting their gear down opposite Dedue near the door. 

“So,” Sylvain leaned forward, suddenly very interested in his new teammates. “What brought you lovelies over to our side of the rink?” 

Annette fidgeted in her seat. “Oh, well, I always wanted to try hockey out, and no time like the now right?” 

Sylvain seemed like he was going to ask more when Felix jabbed him in the ribs with his shin guard. 

“Ouch! What was that for?” Sylvain complained from their now chaperogneless corner. Felix didn’t answer, but continued to put his gear on in silence. 

Ingrid had just taken her place between Sylvain and Felix when the door swung open again and a boy with grey hair hesitantly inched his way in. 

“Uhm, hello there, my name is Ashe.” 

Dimitri smiled up at the newcomer, noticing his discomfort as he glanced around the locker room of strangers. “Nice to meet you, go ahead and sit anywhere.” 

The boy picked out a spot furthest from all of them, and began quietly strapping on his shin guards. He had hardly settled in when the team heard voices from outside the locker room. 

“Father please. You don’t have to stay for the entire practice.” A young but articulate girl pleaded. 

“I need to be here in case anything happens.” 

The team collectively groaned at the sound of their vice-principal's voice. 

The argument was dropped, and despite it the green haired girl’s face lit up as she opened the door to her new teammates. 

“Good morning everyone.” Flayn beamed. Ingrid ran through the introductions, but everyone was already partially familiar with Seteth’s precious and very much off limits daughter. 

With most of the team present, Dimitri began to worry for the two missing spots on their roster. The Lions were pulling their helmets on by the time the door swung open again. 

“And the Wolves enter the Lions’ den.” Felix said quiet enough so that only Sylvain and Ingrid could hear him. A red haired girl in a green cropped hoodie and her companion paused in the doorway, the tension evident from their new teammates. 

“No need for applause.” Yuri chided sarcastically. “We were more than happy to join up to save this team from extinction.”

The Lions didn’t follow his humor. Dimitri had been uneasy when they’d offered the former Ashen Wolves places on their team. Their disbanded rivals were notorious for their underhand plays and lack of sportsmanship. The matter was complicated further in that the only players who lived close enough to their district to qualify were Hapi and Yuri Leclerc--the former having an unsavory reputation both on and off the ice. But they had needed those two spots filled to meet the bare minimum for their team, making their inclusion a risk Dimitri had been willing to take. 

Yuri’s gaze lingered a moment on Ashe Ubert, nodding pointedly at the other newcomer in acknowledgement before joining Hapi on an isolated section of bench between the doors to the showers and hallway. 

With the team geared up, Dimitri led them out onto the ice where the coach was waiting. 

“Hi everyone. I’m Byleth Eisner, some of you may already be familiar with me.” They began once everyone had gathered around. “You may call me Coach Byleth, Coach, or just Byleth as you please, and I use they/them pronouns. This is my first year coaching hockey, though this fall I have been coaching the Garreg Mach Volleyball team.” 

They nodded slightly at Flayn as they spoke, Dimitri waited for them to announce their Olympic history, but that detail never came. Perhaps they simply assumed the team was already fully aware--which of course they were. 

The coach had them go around with their own names and pronouns, then sent them off to line up on the goal line. 

“First thing’s first.” They ducked behind the benches and dumped the bucket of pucks across the ice. “Let’s work those summer legs off.” 

Dimitri and Ingrid took the front of the line, knowing where this was going. Byleth began by having them skate along the five circles across the ice, first forward, backwards, and again with pucks. The drill was basic, but intensive, and gave the coach a quick display of the teams range in skill. Paying close attention to the new players, Byleth and the captains noted Mercedes and Annette’s strong skating but difficulty stick handling--often skating faster than they could control it and spending half the time chasing after their pucks. Flayn struggled as well, being the least experienced skater on the team, but she kept her pace slow so she could concentrate on controlling the puck. Ashe on the other hand carried himself surprisingly well, and Byleth took that to assume that he did have some experience on the ice.

For the majority of the practice Byleth had them run through other simple drills to get a for their levels, from passing to shots on net. Felix in particular exellelled in getting the puck past Dedue--a remarkable goalkeeper himself which was a relief for Byleth to see. Eventually however they had the team line up once again on the goal line. 

“Great work everyone.” They called out from beside the benches, well out of the team’s way. “Let’s finish strong.” 

They laid out the sprints, which Dimitri and likely the other seasoned players recognized as Herbies, and sounding their whistle to send the team off. 

“Again.” 

Dimitri forced his aching legs to push forward, keeping pace with Ingrid, Felix, and Sylvain as the four of them raced from goal line to blue and back--then red and back, and far blue, and goal line to goal line, and finally the same in descending order. Snow sprayed the glass white as the entire Blue Lions team stopped in unison, still settling as their coach’s voice rang out across the rink.

“Again.” 

The captain ignored the burning in his lungs and took off again down the ice, hoping his example would lighten the hearts of his exhausted teammates despite their annoyed grumbling between wheezing breaths. 

Ingrid and Felix swiftly overtook him, skidding to a halt back at the goaline and stealing the extra moments to reel in their breathing as the rest of the team struggled after them. 

“How’re the summer legs, Captain?” Ingrid laughed between gasps as Dimtri slid to a stop beside her. He was about to joke back when another “Again” spurred them back across the ice. 

“I…” Hapi wheezed after a few more rounds of sprints, “am going...to die” 

“Hang in there friend,” Yuri tapped her skate with his stick, “Can’t let these spoiled Lions show us up now can we?” 

Talking had been a mistake, one Yuri realized when the coach’s signal sounded before he could complete a full breath. 

Head swimming, Dimitri tried to take a quick survey of the team before their next round. Mercedes had taken a knee, Annette’s head was bobbing in dizzied exhaustion, and Flayn’s face was a sickly shade almost as green as her hair. 

“We should say something.” Dimitri stopped beside Ingrid, who was also now struggling to stay on her feet. “This isn’t good for the new players, someone could get hu--”

“Again.” Byleth’s robotic command roused everyone back to their feet, but before they could take off Sylvain glided off the line and shouted back. 

“Sylvain Jose Gautier! I play for the Blue Lions!” 

Nervous laughter broke out along the line--half crazed from exhaustion. 

“They’re not seriously doing the Miracle bit, are they?” Felix groaned. 

Byleth’s glare cut across the rink, their whistle poised halfway to their lips as they considered Sylvain’s outburst. 

“Break for water.” They finally called out, the mercy met with breathless sighs of relief from the thoroughly spent team. 

“Sylvain Jose Gautier. Again.” 

“What?” Sylvain yelled back, his objection cut off with the sharp howl of the whistle. 

“That’s not--” He started again, but a second shrill shriek sent him sprinting down the ice. 

“Can they do that?” Annette asked no one in particular as the rest of the team abandoned Sylvain for their water bottles. 

“Don’t worry about him.” Felix assured her, far too amused by his friend’s agony. “He’ll live.” 

“Again.” 

“Coach seriously--it was a joke!” 

“Again.” 

The boy didn’t make it through many more sets before Byleth relented and set him free with the others. 

Dismissed after their hour, the team undressed and filed out relatively quietly in their exhaustion. Some took advantage of the rink showers while others lived close enough to stop back at home before school. 

One by one the cars pulled out of the lot, and Ashe set his bag down on the dryest patch of pavement he could find as he scanned the cars passing on the street for a familiar one. 

“Do you have a ride?” A voice called out from behind him, and Ashe turned to see the two former Ashen Wolves players coming down the sidewalk. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m just waiting for Lonato.” Ashe shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Practice is kinda tricky with his work schedule, but he should be here soon.” 

Hapi shrugged and began to walk again, but paused when she saw that Yuri was staying put. 

“If you want,” Yuri began, “you can get in on our carpool.”

“No no-” Ashe shook his head. “I don’t want to trouble you.” 

Yuri smiled. “Don’t worry your little head over it. We pass by your place on our way, it just makes more sense to make one big trip.” 

Ashe stopped his protesting. “Really? I guess if you’re sure…”

“It’s settled then.” Yuri nodded triumphantly. “We can give you a ride now too if you need,

Ashe interrupted by pointing over his shoulder to a familiar car. “There’s Lonato now, but thank you so much anyway.” 

“See you tomorrow morning!” Yuri called after the boy as he ran off to meet his adoptive father. Following Hapi back to their own car, he tossed their bags in the back and hopped into the driver’s seat. 

“Yuri-biiiird,” Hapi whined as soon as he was settled. “That kid lives like twenty minutes out of the way, and we already have to get up so early.” 

“Twenty minutes won’t kill you.” Yuri said, starting up the ignition. “And you saw him in the locker room today--he looks like an excited but very confused and lost puppy. We can spare a few extra minutes of sleep to help him out.” 

Hapi didn’t argue, nestling into the seat as though to try and catch some more sleep before school. “They didn’t want us there.” He heard her pipe up as he pulled them out of the rink parking lot. 

“What else is new?” He responded. “But they need us, at at least we have some nice leverage, which will be fun. Hey put your seatbelt on.” 

Hapi ignored him and curled up more dangerously on her side, sighing heavily. 

“Don’t sigh on me.” 

The night following their first practice Sylvain had just escaped back to his room from a lovely dinner with his lovely parents when a sharp tap sounded from outside his window. Opting to ignore it, he began changing out of his uniform for his sweatpants and t-shirt, but another tap followed the first, then a third that nearly cracked the glass. Pushing the window open, Sylvain looked down to see Felix already readying another small stone to throw at him. 

“Wherefore art thou, Felix?” Sylvain called down to his friend, annoyed at the ridiculous display and already dreading the cause of the boy’s infuriated expression. 

“Let me up!” Felix demanded, dropping the stone and instead moving to the tower of firewood below Sylvain’s window. 

“What’s wrong with the front door?” Sylvain objected. “Or your own house for that matter?” 

Felix went ahead and began to climb the firewood despite Sylvain’s protests, 

“Boar infestation.” 

“Stop being so dramatic.” Sylvain groaned, but Felix was already settled on the garage roof. “You can survive one night with Dimitri at your place.” 

“I can.” Felix nodded. “But I can’t promise he will.” 

Sylvain considered closing the window again and locking the boy out, but relented and stepped aside, letting him crawl his way in. 

“You can’t count on me to be your way out whenever Dimitri crashes at your house.” Sylvain complained. “What if I’d had a girl up here?” 

Felix struggled to hold in a laugh. “I was pretty sure you wouldn’t.” 

“That’s cold, man.” Sylvain rested a hand over his heart as though wounded. “But seriously, you can just ignore him instead of causing a scene.” 

Felix frowned again. “He and my father took over the living room to watch the Fhirdiad game. I couldn’t stand it.” 

Sylvain sighed and started throwing a couple blankets and pillows on the floor for his unwanted guest. 

“Oh how dare your father watch the sport his sons both play in his own home.” Sylvain kicked at the makeshift bed. “Your home life is such a tragedy.” 

“Shut up.” Felix snapped back, but settled down into the blankets without argument. 

The arrangement wasn’t uncommon between the two--having grown up in such close proximity had led to a lot of scaling of one another’s windows since well before Felix’s relationship with his father had become so tumultuous. Sylvain didn’t mind being his friend’s escape, but it did bother him that he was using him to escape from Dimitri. The captain had only recently reached back out to his childhood friends again after a long ghosting, and as rough as that had been Sylvain wished Felix could be more welcoming. 

“Any thoughts on the new coach?” Felix asked from his makeshift bed. 

“Other than that my legs are still dying from them running me ragged this morning?” 

Felix smiled. “I like them already.” 

“Glad to know you always have my back.” Sylvain kicked him lightly from where he sat on his bed. 

“It is too bad they couldn’t keep playing themself.” Felix continued, more seriously this time. Sylvain had to agree. Byleth had gained notoriety on the ice for their prowess, a fame which had only been inflamed by the mystery of their persona and tragedy which ended their career. 

“The Ashen Demon.” Felix mused over the coach’s nickname. “Dramatic, but they lived up to it on the ice. I should at least be able to learn something from them.” 

“So it only took a former Olympic player for you to be satisfied with our coach?” 

“I have standards. And it wouldn’t hurt you to have a few of your own.” 

Sylvain sighed at his friend’s seriousness. It was just hockey, but for Felix it was everything--and any time that wasn’t making him better at the game was time wasted. 

“I hope they’re everything you dream of and more.”


	2. Setting up the Lines

“Hapi, get up.” 

Yuri prodded his roommate from where she had collapsed on the couch--halfway to the kitchen where he’d taken the liberty of cooking her an egg sandwich. A liberty he’d been forced to take every morning if his friend was going to be fed at all. 

“You’re almost there, just roll over and you’re out the door.” He was met with only an exhausted groan muffled through a throw pillow. 

“Come on, it’s been a week.” Yuri complained, exhausted himself by this routine. “One more practice, let’s go.”

Rather than answering him, Hapi’s hand shot up holding a crumpled piece of paper. Taking it, Yuri opened the note to find an equation outlining their expended time from getting dressed to the exact length of their drive to the rink. 

_ 7 minutes to put gear on, 1 minute 40 second walk from the car to the locker room, 17 minute drive from Freckles’ big ass house to the rink, 22 minutes from home to Freckles, 50 second arguing with Yuri-bird over music in the car... _

“What is this?” Yuri sighed.

“We don’t have to leave for another 4 minutes to get to practice on time.” Hapi answered, still face down in the pillow. “I kept track all week, and you woke me up too early.” 

“You calculated the latest time we could be on the road just for 4 extra minutes of sleep?”

“It would have been but you’re wasting it.”

Yuri gave up and left his roommate to her morning nap. While he certainly wouldn’t trade her for anyone, Hapi’s general apathy was not without its drawbacks. 

With the last 4 minutes passed and the minimal amount of pleading being reached, Hapi pried herself from the sweet bliss of the couch and followed Yuri to the car. 

Outside it was still dark and starry, with only the faintest grey along the horizon hinting that the sun was anywhere in sight. Yuri had already thrown their hockey bags into the back, and took the wheel so Hapi could nestle up in the passengers' side, eat her breakfast and pretend she could still sleep. 

Hapi’s attempt to calculate their commute wasn’t ill founded. The pair just barely lived in the same district as Gerrag Mach Academy--certainly in an area the damn trust fund elitists who attended wouldn’t be caught dead in. They’d both managed to transfer into the private school for their last couple years of high school, but since the hockey team was technically affiliated with the town rather than the school they’d opted to stick with the Ashen Wolves until their funds and numbers had been bled dry and the team had been forced to disband. 

Yuri hadn’t been looking forward to buddying up with the Blue Lions, but he was relieved to find the team wasn’t made up exclusively of entitled rich prep school brats.

Twenty minutes in the wrong direction, Yuri pulled up to a large house at the edge of a forested hill, where the kid was waiting patiently in the dark cold. 

“Thanks again.” Ashe said as he hopped in the back seat.

“Not a problem.” Yuri repeated as he had done every morning so far. He appreciated the boy’s politeness, but after 4 straight days of it he was tired of needing to remind the kid that he wasn’t a burden. 

“When did you get into hockey?” Yuri asked the boy when they were back on the road. It was nice to have Ashe along for the morning ride if only for some conversation to keep him awake at the wheel. Hockey wasn’t a cheap sport, and from what he knew of Ashe’s situation his better fortune had been a recent development. 

“When I was probably ten?” He answered. “Just pond hockey though, my little brother and sister and I got hand me down skates and sticks. Our foster parents would set it up as a way to see each other whenever we had to be split up. It’s a lot different being on a real team though, I’m a little nervous for the game tomorrow.”

The boy brushed by the foster care detail like it was nothing important. It wasn’t any news to him, but Ashe’s seeming indifference to being split up didn’t sit well with Yuri. 

“You’ll be fine.” He assured him anyway. 

In the momentary distraction, Hapi’s hand snuck out of her tightly curled form towards the dangling aux cord, and Yuri had to snatch it away. 

“None of that this early.”

The Wolves were getting better about arriving on time, but Yuri found they’d still missed some of the locker room 5am drama.

“You can’t hit on Coach!” Ingrid’s scolding could be heard from down the hallway. 

“What’s the big deal?” Sylvain objected. “I was just gonna ask if they would be interested in some one on one instruction.” 

The boy’s dumb smirk made it painfully obvious he was only denying his nefarious intentions out of habit and a chance to rial up his friend. 

“If Sylvain wants to strike out with the new coach I say it’s his hill to die on.” Felix said. 

“You’re just going to let him embarrass himself and all of us in front of an Olympic athlete?” Ingrid turned on him.

“Sure.” 

Deduce frowned. “I wasn’t expecting the rumors about him to be so on point.” 

Sylvain glanced over to the goalkeeper who’d been thinking aloud. “Oh? I'm the hot gossip of the halls am I?”

“Indeed. People say you're indefensibly worthless.”

“Indefensibly?” Sylvain was visibly taken aback “That’s a bit harsh. Who said that? 

“Are you sure it wasn't just Felix?” Ingrid asked.

Dimitri nodded. “It does sound like him.”

“It may have been,” Felix shrugged at the accusation. “I say a lot of things”

“I love my friends so much.” Sylvain sighed dramatically. “But my point stands that they’re a catch and I’m legal.” 

“Your ceaseless philandering already cost us Coach Rowe back in Bantams!” Ingrid didn’t relent.”

“That was his daughter--completely different.”

“Not his daughter.” Yuri said passing by from filling his water bottle, throwing a wink Sylvain’s way as the realization dawned on his horror stricken face. Satisfied, Yuri settled down between Hapi and Ashe and rushed to gear up in time.

“Is everyone ready for Coach?’ Dimitri called over the chatter of the locker room, silencing everyone before letting Byleth in. They’d asked him to have the team get changed quickly but hold off on putting their jersey’s on. 

“We have our first scrimmage this weekend, which will be the best chance for me to see what each of you can do.” They announced, uncapping a pen and tapping at their notepad. “But before then we’re going to start thinking about lineups. So, how about we go around and you can each tell me where you’ve played before. Captain, do you want to start?” 

Dimitri nodded. “I’ve usually been placed as a forward, wing or center.” 

“Great, Dedue?” Byleth looked to the boy already covered in goalie equipment without a shred of irony. 

“Uhm? Goalkeeper?” He answered. 

“Alright--Ingrid?” Byleth pointed their pen to the assistant captain. 

“I can play wherever you need me.” She answered. Byleth nodded again and pointed next down the bench to Sylvain. 

“I’m more of a defense guy. You know, the one you want holding the line.” He winked, earning an eye roll from each of his friends. 

“I’ve always played forward.” Felix jumped in after Sylvain. 

“Yeah, heads up Coach but this guy refuses to be held back by the line.” Sylvain interrupted. “He’s not happy unless he’s scored a hat trick a game.” 

“You score goals and you win.” Felix shot back, “It’s that simple.” 

“Okay I get it.” Byleth cut them off. “Mercedes?” 

The older girl shrugged. “This is my first time playing, so I’m not sure where I’d be best fit.” 

Annette nodded in agreement. “Me neither.”

“I too will accept wherever the Coach decides to place me.” Flayn followed. 

“Okay, good good,” Byleth scribbled some quick notes. “Ashe? You’ve played before yes?” 

“Well,” Ashe answered. “Only pond hockey really, and that’s basically every position all the time you know?” 

“I do,” Byleth agreed. “We have a lot of flexibility on this team--it's good. Hapi?” 

“Defense.” The girl said without any hint of flexibility. “Don’t have to skate as much.” 

Byleth frowned. “You better chase after the puck when it’s heading into our zone.” 

“Or.” Hapi countered. “I body anyone who tries to cross the blue line.” 

“That works too.” Byleth relented. “Yuri? Any preference in positions?” 

Yuri’s slight smirk made Byleth regret their wording immediately. “Oh, I consider myself pretty verse.” 

“And I think that covers it.” Byleth moved on before he could say anything worse. “We’re gonna try this; Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, Mercedes, and Annette, put on your white jerseys, everyone else wear the blue. Dedue you can pick a team for now and the others can use the Silver Maiden.” They instructed, in reference to the plastic goal blocker. “We have exactly enough for two lines, so we’ll make this a scrimmage day. Meet you on the ice.” 

With their team assignments, the Blue Lions quickly through on their jerseys and helmets and headed out to the rink. Outside, the bleachers were nearly empty save the looming figure of a green haired man at the center, but the vice-principal had become such a common sight at their practices that no one was much bothered anymore.

Wasting little warming up, the team quickly gathered around where Byleth waited near to the side with their whiteboard ready. 

“Who here is familiar with the 2-3 forecheck?” They asked once the stranglers had assembled. 

Ingrid raised a gloved hand. “We had a coach try that setup in Bantams. We ended up going back to the 3-2 forecheck though, so we didn’t get a lot of practice with it.” 

Dimitri, Felix, and Sylvain nodded behind her. 

“That’s fine.” Byleth uncapped their marker. “For everyone else--the 3-2 forecheck is probably what you’re already familiar with. It uses the standard three forwards and two defensemen. The 2-3 forecheck is exactly what it sounds like, we’ll have two forwards and three defensemen who rotate with the offensive play.” 

“Oh, isn’t this what your Olympic team used?” Ashe asked while raising his glove. 

“Exactly.” Byleth confirmed, starting to mark x’s on the board to illustrate a play in the offensive zone. “There’s a right back, a center back, and a left back. In the offensive zone, the right and left backs pinch in and play with the forwards when the puck is on their side, while the center back rotates to cover the point.” They explained, drawing out arrows to illustrate the motion. “The advantage for this team is that it should minimize pointless running around-we only have two lines and we can’t afford for you to skate out your legs with no point.” 

The team nodded along in agreement, the newer players not entirely sure what to make of the coach’s scribbles but trusting that they made sense to the others. 

“The catch is that this means you need to play your positions, so first we’ll run through

the face-off. Ingrid and Dimitri, I want you two at left back.” 

Likewise, Byleth ran through their assignments for each position. Felix and Ashe were placed at right wing, with Annette and Flynn on left. Mercedes and Hapi were at center back, leaving Sylvain and Yuri at right. 

Following the coach’s instruction, the two lines formed up in the for a face off. Byleth having the two forwards join the inside defenseman in front of the net. 

“Make sure you listen to Dedue” Byleth emphasized. “I want all three of you there, but he’ll let you know if he can’t see the play.” 

Dropping the puck, they walked through various defensive plays, getting used to where they needed to be and how to break the puck out of the defensive zone. 

Working step by step through the offensive play, eventually Byleth had the lines take the center face-off so they could begin their scrimmage. 

Letting the players lose for the majority of the practice, Byleth took the time to observe. They’d set the captains as left backs hoping they could control the plays, even if it meant moving Dimitri to the second line where they hoped his consistency would make up for the newer players on that line. Felix and Ashe were strong forwards, quick to adapt to the play and were able to get the puck in the net. Annette and Flayn still had trouble keeping the puck on their sticks--Annette frequently panicking and throwing it off without looking to see if anyone was actually open to receive it--but they were quick and nimble skaters who Byleth could see growing into flexible offensemen. 

At center back Mercedes and Hapi were the last line of defense before Dedue. Mercedes was a gamble on Byleth’s part, not having the stick handling skills preferred for a defenseman, but she was a strong skater--and an especially strong backwards skater--and was quickly proving she had the awareness to predict the play and get back when she needed to. Hapi was another matter, although Byleth could already see she wasn’t joking about preferring to body another player to keep the puck in the offensive zone rather than needing to chase it down the ice. Byleth liked the resolve, but could already see they would need to work with her on the difference between an aggressive play and a lazy one to keep the girl out of the penalty box. 

Speaking of keeping players out of the penalty box, that left Yuri and Sylvain. They were both well rounded players, dependable defensemen who could pinch into the offensive play when needed, making them well suited to the right back. Dependable yes, but Byleth could already see how differently the Lions and Wolves played the game.

“Leclerc, that’s a penalty.” They called out after blowing their whistle to end the play. 

“What do you mean?” Yuri objected lightheartedly, standing innocently over fuming Felix whom he’d tripped just before he could receive a breakout pass from Sylvain. 

“We don’t have the numbers for reckless plays.” Byleth said pointedly.

But Yuri only doubled down. “I don’t make reckless plays.” 

“I’ll take the sprints back after that.” Hapi announced as the exhausted team spilled back into the locker room. 

“It was a lot.” Annette agreed, a breathless smile on her face. “But it was nice to finally get a real feel for the game.” 

Mercedes nodded at her friend’s comment, and Dimitri found himself relieved at the girls’ enthusiasm. 

“Great job everyone.” Dimitri said. “Especially to our new players--you’ve come a long way in only a week.” 

Unlike the awkward silence and pockets of conversation that had been the atmosphere earlier in the week, the team chatted excitedly about their upcoming game--a shift that Dimitri was glad to see.

“Okay team.” Byleth pushed their way through the locker room door without warning. “No one leave, I have a quick announcement.” 

Annette and Mercedes sat back down, slumping their packed up hockey bags on the bench, 

“Certain concerned parties--”

“Seteth.” The room interrupted in unison. 

“Certain  _ anonymous _ concerned parties,” Byleth emphasised, “have brought it to my attention that it is inappropriate for a league of co-ed players of your ages to share one locker room, and have requested that we split into a boys and a girls room.” 

Yuri frowned, glancing between Hapi and Ashe before raising his hand. 

“Coach, this policy is transphobic and I feel personally victimized.” 

Byleth narrowed their eyes at him. 

“Fine then, Leclerc, if you’re prepared to fight it out with our concerned parties be my guest.” 

Yuri smiled. “Oh I’m always prepared to fight Seteth, you can let him know.”

Byleth rolled their eyes. “Any other opinions or concerns?”

To everyone’s surprise, Sylvain raised his hand. 

“I think split locker rooms are a great idea.” 

The entire room swerved to stare at him.

“Ingrid bullies me and it makes me very uncomfortable.” Sylvain whined, almost moving his foot out of the way before Ingrid stomped on it; but not quite. 

“Someone has to!” She scolded. 

Byleth tapped at their notepad like a judge’s gavel. “Any other concerns from someone besides the reason we’re having this meeting?” 

“I’ve been behaving!” Sylvain insisted, but was promptly ignored. 

“I don’t get what Seteth’s so worried about. “ Hapi began. “I mean look at these idiots, everyone here’s either gay or ace, so its not like splitting us up by arbetrary gender barriers will do anything but-”

“Hapi!” Ingrid interrupted. “You can’t just say that!” 

Hapi glanced around the room, which was starting at her in silent horror--except for Yuri who was trying not to double over in laughter from her callout. 

“Get over yourselves.” Hapi sighed. “Am I wrong?” 

Sylvain looked like he was about to object before Byleth cut him off. 

“Well I’ll let you sort this out amongst yourselves. I wanted no part of this and you somehow made the conversation even worse than I thought. I’m going home.” They said and promptly slammed the door behind them.

“Are you okay, Flayn?” Dimitri asked the younger girl who was trying to melt into the concrete wall. 

“Yes, I am fine. But I fear I must apologize for my father’s behavior.” 

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Dimitri assured her. “We know Seteth can be overprotective, but we’re glad to have you on the team.” 

The girl seemed to relax at his assurance.

“I have a proposition.” Felix raised his hand. “One locker room for all of us and the other for Sylvain.” 

Yuri and Hapi applauded the idea.

“He has been behaving.” Dimitri reluctantly came to his friend’s defense. 

“Thanks Captain. And if it counts for anything.” Sylvain called over to the girl. “I’d never creep on Flayn--she’s an infant.” 

“So you admit that what you do is creep.” Ingrid said. 

Sylvain pretended to be hurt. “There’s just no winning with you.” 

Dimitri saw that this discussion wasn’t going anywhere productive, so gathered his bag and stood up to address the room. “We’ll leave it there for today, and if anyone has concerns feel free to message us captains. Remember our first game is tomorrow at 4:00, but be here an hour early so we can go through warm ups. I look forward to playing for real with all of you.” 


End file.
